Johns Hopkins cardiologists seek new tests to predict heart disease in women.
Studying heart disease in women?s family histories and doing simple blood tests for proteins associated with risk of heart disease will help diagnose women sooner, said cardiologist Roger Blumenthal, professor at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.
If a parent or sibling suffered a heart disease-related illness, a woman?s own chance of heart disease doubles, according to a report published Wednesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
“Early assessment of women who are at higher risk for heart disease will make it easier to determine who would benefit from drug therapy,” Blumenthal said.
If heart disease is caught early enough, therapy can be as minor as weight loss, improved diet and a daily regiment of aspirin, Blumenthal said.
Heart disease is the leading cause of death for women in the United States. Although more common in middle-age women, the average age of women with heart disease is declining. And, although deadly, heart disease, if caught early, is treatable, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“Most women with a family history of heart disease don?t apply for care, and this study will show the importance of family history when diagnosing heart disease,” Blumenthal said.
Currently, heart disease tests can offer a 10-year prediction of the probability of a heart attack based on age, race, blood pressure, cholesterol and whether a person smokes, but they can?t assess the need for bypass surgery or risk of stroke, Blumenthal said.
In a study conducted by Blumenthal, current methods of testing failed to identify a risk of heart disease in one-third of the 60-year-old women who actually had signs of heart disease.
A list of the risk factors associated with heart disease and do-it-yourself test to assess personal risk of heart disease are available at www.reynoldsriskscore.org.
